OMAHA, Neb.—A researcher at the University of Nebraska Medical Center altered a file of DNA sequence and submitted it with grant applications, according to a federal office that oversees misconduct reviews.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Research Integrity announced its findings this month. The alleged misconduct took place between 2002 and 2005, when Lois Bartsch was doing postdoctoral research in UNMC’s Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy.
Department chairman Jim Shull said Wednesday that the altered file was discovered by a new lab staffer who was asked to review the lab’s past work and continue from there.
A lengthy internal investigation followed, and the results were reported to the Office for Research Integrity, UNMC officials said.
Shull said he withdrew two grant applications as a precaution because they contained Bartsch’s work.
“It hurt morale in my lab,” he said. “We had to regroup and have some long, hard discussions” about how much freedom should be given to students and postdoctoral trainees.
Bartsch said she had no comment.
Shull said her contract with UNMC was not renewed when it expired in 2005.
UNMC administrator David Crouse said the misconduct was the first he could recall in UNMC’s history.
“There are honest errors in science,” he said. “This is different. This is data that were intentionally … altered or made up.”
The federal office said Bartsch has voluntarily agreed to exclude herself from receiving federal funds for two years and from serving in an advisory capacity for public health agencies for three years. She did not admit to or refute the office’s findings as part of the agreement.
Bartsch has been an assistant professor of biology at Iowa’s Graceland University since 2005. According to the school’s Web site, Bartsch received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Iowa State University and a doctorate from Washington State University.
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